If you've been keeping track of my list of the twelve best Booster Gold comics, you know that we've reached number 9. More importantly, we've reached a turning point in the history of Booster Gold.

By 2007, Booster Gold was widely recognized as a laughingstock, has-been as a former member of the long-derided Justice League International. Booster Gold Volume 2, Number 1 begins the story of how Booster started his second act as The Greatest Hero The World Has Never Known!

As it happens all too often, the real trouble starts when Booster finally gets what he has sought since his earliest appearances in Booster Gold Volume 1: the acceptance of his peers.

As you can see, this issue is a great jumping on point for new Booster Gold fans. Never read a comic with Booster Gold before? No problem. Writers Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz make the issue accessible to casual Justice League fans and longtime Booster Gold fans alike.

It's not an exaggeration to say that without the changes to Booster's status quo that were begun in this story, significantly fewer readers would even care which comics should be considered The Best Booster Gold Stories Ever!

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On Monday, I wondered if the solicitation for Generations: Shattered meant that Booster Gold was going to make a previously unannounced appearance in yesterday's Detective Comics #1027 anthology.

The answer is yes. Kind of.

Words by Dan Jurgens, art by Kevin Nowlan, Hi-Fi, Andworld Design

First of all: The return of "Buster" Gold, a running joke as old as Booster Gold himself! (See page 2, panel 3 of Booster Gold Volume 1, #1!)

Second of all: Is that Skeets on Kamandi's arm? Kevin Nowlan may be the issue's credited artist, but boy howdy does that look like a Dan Jurgens circa 1992 design.

This story, "Generations: Fractured," has a very Zero Hour feel to it. I'm not sure whether that's intentional or coincidental, as Dan Jurgens did write and draw Zero Hour, after all.

We're told at the end of the story that it will be continued in Generations: Future State #1, but I have no idea what that will be. BleedingCool.com suggests that it is a series (mini- or otherwise) that Dan Jurgens will presumably be writing in 2021. However, on Twitter Jurgens seemed to have a bone to pick with some of Bleeding Cool's reporting, so whatever the truth is here is anyone's guess.

Just let me go on the record saying: Hey, DC, please, please, please publish a series by Dan Jurgens featuring Booster Gold and time shenanigans! I even promise not to complain about the cover price.

UPDATE 2020-09-17: BleedingCool has revealed a teaser poster for Future State coming January and February 2021. Which is slightly more than we knew before.

Looks like we'll see more in DC solicitations next month.

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DC took advantage of Fandome to release their 2020 December solicitations. These are the places we should expect to see Booster Gold in coming months:

DEATH METAL: THE LAST 52: WAR OF THE MULTIVERSES #1
written by SCOTT SNYDER, JOSHUA WILLIAMSON, MAGDALENE VISAGGIO, JAMES TYNION IV, KYLE HIGGINS, MARGUERITE BENNETT, MATT ROSENBERG, JUSTIN JORDAN, REGINE SAWYER, and CHE GRAYSON
art by DANIEL SAMPERE and others
cover by DAN MORA
variant cover by GARY FRANK

What would it take to get every being left in the Multiverse to side together in the ultimate, final showdown? Total decimation and the complete undoing of all existence? The Batman Who Laughs has made his final move, bringing the most horrifying opposition to the battleground, and now every hero and villain left alive will stand and fight together. This epic battle book details every side of the last war across the Multiverse—Wonder Woman leading the heroes, Superman leading the villains, and Batman leading the dead—everyone has to play their part. Everyone and everything is at stake…so join here for the last of the DCU as we know it! $8.99 PRESTIGE FORMAT ONE SHOT, ON SALE December 29, 2020

I know the text doesn't explicitly mention Booster Gold, but he appears on *both* covers seen above. Am I willing to shell out $17.98 for the pair? I'll see how I feel about that decision when I complete my Christmas shopping.

UPDATE 2020-09-14: BleedingCool.com reports that the second cover by Gary Frank was original intended for the abandoned 5G event, so it doesn't have anything to do with the book's contents. I wish that made my math easier, but it is a beautiful, cheerful cover.

(By the way, there are four other Dark Nights: Death Metal books and three new Tales of the Dark Multiverse being solicited — because Eddie of Iron Maiden makes all of DC Comics' publishing decisions in 2020. Booster Gold could conceivably cameo in any of these books, so if anyone notices our boy, please pass word along. Thank you.)

Next up is the book DC teased last week:

GENERATIONS SHATTERED #1
written by DAN JURGENS, ANDY SCHMIDT, and ROBERT VENDITTI
art by IVAN REIS, BRYAN HITCH, KEVIN NOWLAN, AARON LOPRESTI, FERNANDO PASARIN, PAUL PELLETIER, and others
cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO

A threat of cosmic proportion to DC's newest (and oldest) universe compels one of the most unusual groups of heroes ever assembled to take on the most mysterious foe they have ever encountered. What started in Detective Comics #1027 explodes out of Dark Nights: Death Metal to tell the story of the generations-spanning history of the DC Universe! Join the original Batman, Kamandi, Starfire, Sinestro, Booster Gold, Dr. Light, Steel, and Sinestro in their quest to save the universe before time runs out…
$9.99 PRESTIGE FORMAT ONE SHOT, ON SALE January 15, 2021

There are two covers for this one, too, but so far we've only seen the one I showed on Generations Shattered on Friday. Will the second one have Booster Gold on it also? That'd be useful information, DC, as my Local Comic Shop only orders for me exactly what I tell them to, and I don't need to buy two copies of the interior pages.

Note that the solicitation above text name checks Detective Comics #1027, which is due in my store tomorrow with a $9.99 cover price. What is up with all these $9-$10 comics, DC? Haven't you heard that there's a pandemic-inspired economic crisis on? Why are you making me choose between skipping meals or comic books? I feel I should warn you that food is pretty darn important to me.

Also in the solicitations is the news that Booster Gold will also be appearing in the JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL BOOK TWO: AROUND THE WORLD TP reprint collection coming in January. I recommend it highly for fans of Blue and Gold, though I have to admit that I won't be buying it on release. Its cover price is a very reasonable $29.99 for 20 comics, but it'll be March before I recover from buying all those other Booster Gold books.

You can find all of DC's December 2020 solicitations at GamesRadar.com.

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